Hi Zeek and welcome to the forum. I'm not in Vermont, but Mississippi. Mississippi has an early muzzle loader season. Takes place the first week of December, and during this season, both bucks and does are legal on public lands. Being a public land hunter, this helps to increase my season and opportunities to hunt. I think an early muzzle loader season is a great idea.

I hunt the NEK and I sorta have mixed emotions about it..mostly for selfish reasons. Would the early muzzleloader season being proposed run concurrently with Bow season? I love bowhunting first and foremost and more so the absense of gun hunters at that time of year...deer aren't quite as skiddish so you have a good chance at getting close to a nice buck. All that aside, I had thought about taking up muzzeloader this year and despite my own selfish reasons I'm all about any amendments that allow hunters more time in the woods!

Hi DeanoZ, it will be after the bow season before the youth and regular seasons. it will be nice to get to hunt that week. Things seem to really seem to heat up the week after bow season. The NEK is a tough place to hunt, a lot of room up there. Opening day won't be the same for the regular season, that will be the only thing that bothers me about it. I'll get used to it, no problem.

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Hey Zeek, that sounds great...a good follow-on to the bow season. Your right about the timing, it will be just when things really start to heat up. Yes, the NEK is tough hunting...I've only hunted it once thus far, but that was a couple years ago on a friends spread and I knew a lot less about deer and their habits back then. This year I have a pretty good idea where they are and would like to take one off my own property. Good luck this year and keep us posted!!!

I went to all 5 of the deer meetings this past year and at all of them an additional muzzleloader season in October was in favor.

some things that I did not like that were brought up at I think all 5 meetings, at least 4 of them, were --a minimum age to hunt, no hunting big game until 16, a mandatory hunter orange, a limit on non resident licenses sold. I don't really care if non residents come here but the license dolalrs will have to be made up somewhere and that's you and me.

67% over all said YES to an additional or split season muzzleloader, at one meeting no one wanted to give up the Decemeber season as it is the best for snow cover. No one wanted the october season if it took away from bow, and everyone that muzzleloads pretty much wanted a split or early season.

78% wanted to see no inlines or scopes allowed

and oddly enough 78% wanted crossbows with a separate tag.

also additional permits were suggested, Habitat Stamps, were suggested to increase money for land buying by F&W.

Guys, from what I know about the proposed early blackpowder season, it was going to be a doe season only. This may have just been one of the considerations and I can honestly say that I'm not sure what the final decision is.

Actually, this is what I can find about the proposal:

"The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board last month approved a plan to institute a four-day, fall muzzleloader deer season for Oct. 13-16, 2011. A special permit would be required and only antlerless deer can be taken during the hunt.

Members of the board made it clear that its first-vote approval was simply procedural, a means to get the proposal out for public feedback, and was not a clear indication that it was prepared to throw its support behind the plan.

Two more positive votes are needed to make the proposal law. Prior to a second vote, the board will hold a series of public meetings to get a feedback from hunters concerning the proposal.

In a move that the Fish & Wildlife Department hopes will placate bow hunters  particularly those who might object to a muzzleloader season that collides with their October hunt  the proposal would also extend the current 23-day archery season to Oct. 1-31. But it would close the archery season during the four-day muzzleloader season.

Scott said called the process a very good random survey of our current hunters in Vermont and said that grouse hunters, turkey hunters, waterfowl hunters and bear hunters  all of whom would be required to share the woods with October muzzleloader hunters  didnt complain about the new fall season.

Scott said he could not predict how the Fish & Wildlife Board would ultimately decide on the proposal, but said that the survey has delivered a very good, random survey of Vermonts adult hunting population.

I think it showed strong support for increased hunting opportunities for muzzleloader and bow hunters, he said. It showed that hunters support these recommendations because we have too many deer. When I look at the survey results, its a good representation of a Vermont hunter. The impetus for us is to increase hunting opportunities and to make sure we have a mechanism in place to control the number of does in the state of Vermont. "